The focus of this paper is on research in bilingual education in the United States, dealing with its history, practices, and potential. The introductory section describes a variety of models of bilingual education and establishes a foundation of terminology for those new to the field. The second section looks historically at research in the field…

Four papers on responding to diversity in the schools were presented at the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory's Urban School Leadership Mini-Conference. This document presents two, a framework for the discussions by John Attinasi and an exploration of how differences in culture and language affect academic achievement. "Academic…

This report describes six studies on the educational progress of students who entered New York City public schools as non-native English speakers, or English language learners (ELLs). Studies examined number of years students were served in bilingual/English as a Second Language (ESL) programs; characteristics of students receiving these services;…

Grammaticality judgments are a metalinguistic task type frequently used in second language research. With the addition of response time measurement, often called reaction time measurement, a measure of metalinguistic performance is achieved that can be used to investigate the degree of automatization of linguistic knowledge in language users. This…

This paper discusses the interlanguage conversation as a process in an institutional setting. The interaction type in question is language proficiency interview and the material discussed is a series of interviews of French second language learners whose mother tongue is either Finnish or Swedish. These interviews are compared to non-evaluative…

This paper discusses problems faced by Arab learners of English in general, focusing on problems specific to English language majors/graduates at Arab World University. It highlights the situation with Jordanian students, noting various causes of their problems with English (e.g., school and English language department curricula, teaching…

The process oriented approach to English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction has spurred such new ideas as student instruction and the whole language approach. New thinking justifies the validity of qualitative research, which lets researchers view subjects' learning processes from previously impossible angles. This paper examines ESL writing…

A study of Jordanian English-as-a-Second-Language learners examined their metalinguistic knowledge of 15 English grammatical concepts or categories via rule description and exemplification, and also explored the link between metalinguistic knowledge and proficiency in using those categories or their exponents in both formally and…

A study examined the role of the native language (Arabic) in assessing the reading comprehension of learners of English as a second language. Subjects were 60 secondary school students in two comparable classes in Jordan. After receiving instruction for one month using reading material in the prescribed textbook, students were administered a…

An overview is given of the main themes, perspectives, and debates in the teaching of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Combining historical, sociolinguistic, and cross-cultural analysis of the language needs of adult immigrants, the discussion addresses issues related to ESOL learning and teaching in Great Britain. An introductory…

The "K-12 Guidelines for English Language Proficiency" were developed as a supplement to the Nebraska State Standards. All English Language Learner (ELL) students are required by the Nebraska Department of Education to meet or exceed the Nebraska State Standards (LEARNS) or district approved standards. These guidelines present districts, content…

In this report, Christopher Jepsen and Shelley de Alth conclude that there are numerous obstacles to students being reclassified from English learners to Fluent English Proficient. To start with, over 50 languages are spoken in California's public schools. Although 85 percent of English learners speak Spanish as their first language, the sheer…

Results of a test of global awareness administered by the Council on Learning, in cooperation with the Educational Testing Service, to 3,000 undergraduates showed that they generally lacked a global perspective. Regression analysis was performed to determine why education majors' scores were low. Findings and implications for teacher education are…

Issues in the foreign language placement of college students are discussed: the necessity of a placement test for all incoming students, selection of such a test from the available options, decline of student performance in the last 20 years, and articulation courses from high school to college. (MSE)

Combines studies in cognitive psychology and language acquisition with observations of pedagogical materials and student performance to analyze foreign-language teaching from the perspective of what students and teachers need to understand about language learning and language before meaningful debate over methodology can be undertaken. (Author/MES)